Any regular television viewer can tell you that a dog is man’s best friend. They will also attest that nifty gadgets are a crime-fighter’s best friend. So, what if we had a dog who was a loyal pet and sidekick to a crime fighting millionaire? Logic suggests that he would be equipped with plenty of high-tech sophistication. Such was the case with Dynomutt, a lovable but ever-clumsy canine robot, equipped with an array of gear that would make Inspector Gadget jealous. Continue reading...

With the popularity of films like Mary Poppins and Song of the South, Disney proved that they could successfully mix live-action and animation. For their next such endeavor, they would once again meld the two mediums in 1977 for Pete’s Dragon, a comedic film about a boy and his invisible, fire-breathing friend. Continue reading...

With rare exception, longevity isn’t a word often associated with Saturday morning cartoons. Most only last a couple of years at best. Put comedian/educator Bill Cosby at the helm, however, and you have a recipe for success. Such was the case with Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, a beloved series and a staple of Saturday mornings for over a decade. Continue reading...

The “Uncle Remus” stories penned by Joel Chandler Harris provided a perfect vehicle for Walt Disney to employ a technology he had long experimented with – the merging of animation with live actors. The cartoon pioneer first explored the possibilities in a short called Alice’s Wonderland as far back as 1923. It was finally time to put the techniques to the real test in a feature film, the result of which was The Song of the South. Continue reading...

Scholastic's The Magic School Bus had the ability to traverse the ocean floor and zoom through the intricate chambers of the human body. If only we could all get out of rush hour traffic and go where the Magic School Bus goes, the world would be a happier and better educated place. Continue reading...

There seems to be an unwritten rule that anyone who is a genius must also be eccentric. The same holds true for the duck with all the answers, Ludwig Von Drake. While he may never have possessed the same star power as his beloved nephew, Donald, he made a name for himself in many classic Disney offerings. Continue reading...

Friends to the end, Gumby and Pokey, the clay-made cohorts of green boy and orange pony have been entertaining kids ever since Art Clokey created the malleable characters back in the early 50s, utilizing a strange new technique called 3-D Claymation. Gumby first appeared in the 1953 short, Gumbasia, and within four years was a regular on the highly-popular Howdy Doody. Following his success, the Gumbster was given a short-lived series of his own called The Gumby Show, which lasted a mere six months and was hosted by Howdy Doody’s own Bobby Nicholson and later, Pinky Lee. Continue reading...

There are as many similarities between Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Mary Poppins as there are between the Kennedy and Lincoln administrations – although the latter's are pure coincidence. Both films mixed animation with live-action. Both had magical guardians who enchanted the precocious children under their care. Both took place in London, and actor David Tomlinson had a supporting role in both. Other than that - completely different films. Continue reading...